ISBN 0415899834, ix, 195 p.
"In this critical analysis of the intersection among global power elites, ICT, and schools, Joel Spring documents and examines the economic and political interests and forces that are pushing the use of ICT in education and the impact this is having on schools, students, and learning.

College Faculty Continue Their Love Affair with Print Textbooks, Says New BISG Study

Research finds overwhelming percentage of faculty feel students need texts to succeed …and they prefer them in print

A first ever survey of college faculty perceptions toward classroom materials found that professors continue to equate their own and their students’ successes in the classroom to the use of materials such as textbooks and most prefer print formats. Faculty Attitudes Toward Content in Higher Education, led by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and powered by Bowker® Market Research, reveals that 93 percent of faculty feel students who use required course materials receive higher grades in class.

Educause Center for Applied Research, Research Bulletin 1 May 2012

The Future of Mobile Learning by Rick Oller
Abstract: This bulletin provides an overview of the current state of mobile learning in higher education, speculates on future directions, and suggests questions that educators might ask of themselves and their institutions in preparation for the onset of mobile education. Ignoring mobile learning is not an option when it has already begun to show a strong potential to disrupt existing pedagogical infrastructure, including that of online education. It is up to those in higher education to adapt this freewheeling trend to best serve the core mission of educating students.
(ECAR subscription is required to access the Bulletin)

Blackboard’s New Open Source Strategy: How Virtual Learning Environments Became Commodities

"Unthinkable a couple of years ago, and it still feels a bit April 1st: Blackboard has taken over two other virtual learning environment organisations: the Moodlerooms and NetSpot Moodle support companies in the US and Australia. Arguably as important is that they have also taken on Sakai and IMS luminary Charles Severance to head up Sakai development within Blackboard’s new Open Source Services department. The life of the Angel virtual learning environment (VLE) that Blackboard acquired a while ago has also been extended.
For those of us who saw Blackboard’s aggressive acquisition of commercial competitors WebCT and Angel, and have seen the patent litigation they unleashed against Desire 2 Learn, the idea of Blackboard pledging to be a good open source citizen may seem a bit … unsettling, if not 1984ish."

IFLA Releases Background Paper on e-Lending

As part of its work on the 2011-2012 Key Initiatives, the IFLA Governing Board appointed a working group to draft a background paper on digital lending. At its April meeting the IFLA Governing Board endorsed this paper, and we are now pleased to present a version for download.

The paper attempts to:

Provide an overview of the issues relating to eBooks in libraries;

Summarise the current positions of publishers in both the scholarly publishing and trade publishing sectors;

Summarise the differences in the way that academic/research libraries and public libraries address the issue of digital collections;

Address the legal context for eLending and library principles that must be upheld in any suitable models;

Provide a detailed legal analysis of e-Lending

The e-Lending environment is changing rapidly at this point in time, and the paper will be reassessed in the coming months in light of any significant developments. Revisions of the paper may take place in light of any assessment.

IFLA continues to work in this area has been liaising with EBLIDA, the ALA and others as we seek to understand the implications for the delivery of high quality library services in the 21st century. Considering just how important any developments in this area are for libraries around the world, IFLA encourages interested individuals or institutions to share experiences, information or reports with our e-Lending working group. Any information can be sent to Stuart Hamilton, Director of Policy and Advocacy, at IFLA HQ: stuart.hamilton@ifla.org.

Carpenter, Charli. Downloaded on 14 May 2012.
An example of how an e-learning video can deliver complex information. The content includes a discussion on the impact technologies have had on the study of international relations. For example, new media has contributed to a shifting of boundaries between scholars and the public and between the scholarly and the private. New media has also changed the language of scholarship, condensing it. One of the most interesting images in the video is the graphical presentation of the Egyptian revolution on Twitter.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSZqP6RGJX8&feature=youtu.be

in a hybrid format that is online instruction accompanied by one hour of face-to-face instruction each week, or a

traditional format that is 3-4 hours of face-to-face instruction each week.

Results: Learning outcomes are essentially the same—pass rates, final exam scores, and performance on a standardized assessment of statistical literacy. A costing process then finds potential cost savings with hybrid model in the long run, although concedes initial setup costs can be considerable for e-learning. This could contribute to our thinking regarding the effectiveness of research skills development face to face vs online and the costs involved.

INFORMATION LITERACY

ANCIL - A new curriculum for information literacy

http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com/about/ -is a project based at University of Cambridge and London School of Economics that seeks to develop a practical curriculum for information literacy that meets the needs of undergraduate students entering higher education over the next five years. The project involved consultation with experts in the fields of information literacy, curriculum design and educational technologies. The project web page includes some material on implementing ANCIL and an interesting diagram called the “Four Seasons Pizza” that reflects the learning journey through information literacy “as a continuum that ranges from functional skills through to behaviours and values around information”.

LEARNING SPACES

Learning Space Toolkit

We are happy to announce the release of the first half of the Learning Space Toolkit (http://learningspacetoolkit.org). Roadmap, Needs Assessment and Services content has been posted with the rest coming soon. The Toolkit will be complete by November.
The Learning Space Toolkit is a freely available resource designed to support the full lifecycle of a learning space design project, from defining the goals and needs to designing the space to supporting it. By using the Toolkit, institutions will be better equipped to orchestrate the planning process so that learners are better supported and spaces, technology, and services are effective. Watch this video (http://youtu.be/bjd8TQnXm5E) for an overview. Also watch for an Educause ELI webinar on the Toolkit on November 19.

Please check out the Toolkit and send us your ideas and reactions. What’s not there that you would like to see? What elements could be more useful if they included something else? There are Feedback links on the website or you can email us directly at info@learningspacetoolkit.org.
We are also interested in hearing about your institution's informal learning spaces. Please submit one or more of your spaces for consideration as featured examples in the Toolkit. If you would like to nominate an excellent space that we shouldn’t overlook, please fill out this survey (http://bit.ly/lstkspaces) to let us know (or email us at info@learningspacetoolkit.org).

This issue brief describes data analytics and data mining in the commercial world and how similar techniques (learner analytics and educational data mining) are starting to be applied in education. The brief examines the challenges being encountered and the potential of such efforts for improving student outcomes and the productivity of K-12 education systems. The goal is to help education policymakers and administrators understand how data mining and analytics work and how they can be applied within online learning systems to support educational decision making.http://evidenceframework.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EDM-LA-Brief-Draft_4_10_12c.pdf

7 Things You Should Know About Analytics

EDUCAUSE, 2012 downloaded 12 April 2012 http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7059.pdf
For beginners to the complex area of analytics a good place to start is the EDUCAUSE paper: 7 things you should know about analytics. This paper defines analytics in a higher education context and identifies how it works, why it is significant, the implications to teaching and learning, legal and ethical issues and the future of analytics in higher education.

Analytics in Higher Education: Establishing a Common Language

van Barneveld, Angela, Arnold, Kimberly E and Campbell, John P.EDUCAUSE, 2012, downloaded 13 April 2012 http://www.educause.edu/Resources/AnalyticsinHigherEducationEsta/245405
van Barnegeld et al state that there is confusion in the meaning and understanding of what analytics means especially in higher education - “the analytics field is now at a point where clarification and consensus of terms is merited” and in their paper set out a conceptual framework to establish a common terminology and application in the field of analytics in the academy”. The paper sets out two types of analytics for Universities within an overall framework called the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL): academic analytics and learning analytics, and state that analytics can “supplement the established theory and practice of the field.”

Academic Analytics

Campbell, John P. and Oblinger, Diana G.EDUCAUSE, October 2007, downloaded from the Internet 9 May 2012 http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/PUB6101.pdf
Academic analytics is all about improving “... one of higher education’s most important challenges: student success” especially measured through student retention and graduation. Obtaining data from sources such as a course management system and student information systems and by using predictive modelling to identify students at risk and then intervening, analytical tools can be used to improve student retention and graduation.